Irish Reunification

It’s Only a Matter of Time

by Jason Michael McCann Twitter @Jeggit

Once again the question of a united Ireland is back on the table – in Dublin and in Belfast

Ireland is well used to the indifference of Britain. Theresa May’s Brexit agenda, as David Davis confirmed to a recent Commons select committee, threatens the realistic prospect of a hard customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic with the imposition of tariffs on agricultural trade of up to forty per cent – seriously endangering the economies of both countries. In Britain the government and the news media remain silent on the havoc England’s decision to leave the European Union is wreaking in Northern Ireland. In Ireland – both north and south – the question of what Brexit means for the future of Ireland refuses to be dislodged from the front pages.

Paul Kavanagh’s recent optimism about the outcome of a second independence referendum in Scotland, writing, “We’re living in the last days of the UK,” reminds us that the impending breakup of the Union is by no means limited to Scotland’s growing desire for self-determination. Northern Ireland too rejected Brexit, with almost fifty-six per cent of the electorate voting to remain, and wheels are now turning there to put pressure on London to allow a border poll that might well bring about the reunification of the six counties with the rest of the country.